biodegradable 復習
スターバックスは使い捨てストローを2020年までに廃止することを発表しました。
Starbucks, citing ocean threat, is ditching plastic straws
Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from all of its locations within two years, the coffee chain announced Monday, becoming the largest food and beverage company to do so as calls for businesses and cities to cut waste grow louder.
While the straws account for a small percentage of the pollution that ends up in the ocean, they've become a flashpoint because they're seen as an easy way to reduce waste.
"There are several of these single-use items the public is realizing, hey, we don't actually need these," said Denise Hardesty, a scientist with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation who studies plastic pollution.
A week after its hometown of Seattle banned plastic drinking straws and utensils, Starbucks said Monday that by 2020, it will use straws made from biodegradable materials such as paper and specially designed lids. The company already offers alternative straws in Seattle.
以下省略
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201807100019.html
biodegradable /bàɪoʊdəɡréɪdəbəl/ を取り上げます。接頭辞のbioから、生物に関連することばであることがわかります。『ライトハウス英和辞典』（第5版 研究社）で調べると「微生物の作用で無害物質に分解する、生分解性の」とありました。
LDOCEには “materials, chemicals etc that are biodegradable are changed naturally by bacteria into substances that do not harm the environment” と定義されています。
degrade /dɪgréɪd/ は「…の品位（価値、評価）を落とす」という意味の他に、化学では「（物質）を分解する」という意味を表します。（『ライトハウス英和辞典』）これにbioとableが組み合わさることで上記の意味になると考えられます。（aqua）
